NEW: Pro-Sheehy Group Currently Up On Air Funded With Dark Money From Alleged Illegal “Straw Donor” Scheme
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 10, 2024
CONTACT
rehm@mtdems.org
A shell company funding More Jobs, Less Government PAC is accused of “unlawfully direct[ing] almost $2.6 million to half a dozen political action committees”
Helena, MT – A pro-Tim Sheehy group currently blasting the Montana airwaves with misleading TV ads raked in dark money from a shell company that violated campaign finance law, per a new FEC complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center.
Ardleigh Impact, the shell company, may have “unlawfully directed almost $2.6 million to half a dozen political action committees” in a “straw donor” scheme, including to More Jobs, Less Government PAC. More Jobs, Less Government PAC has spent millions of dollars on TV advertising in Montana to boost Sheehy and spread lies about Jon Tester’s record. The Campaign Legal Center argued that the company “violated federal rules by utilizing a ‘straw donor’ scheme that shields the source behind the initial cash.”
As concerns about Sheehy’s conflicts of interest continue to mount, the shady out-of-state money boosting his campaign will ring major alarm bells for Montanans. Read more below:
OpenSecrets: Shell company steering $2.6 million to Republican PACs raises concerns of illicit funding scheme
May 9th, 2024
Jimmy Cloutier
A complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleges that a shell company with ties to the former chief financial officer of the Republican State Leadership Committee illegally steered nearly $2.6 million to half a dozen political committees.
The complaint filed May 7 by the nonpartisan watchdog Campaign Legal Center revolves around Ardleigh Impact Corp., a company incorporated in Delaware on Oct. 24, 2023, which appears to exist only on paper. The Campaign Legal Center found no reference to the company online or record of it doing business. But barely three months after it was organized, the company made multiple large donations to six super PACs connected to high-ranking Republicans and conservative groups.
The Campaign Legal Center argues that Ardleigh Impact does not appear to have conducted any business activity from which it could have generated enough money to make the donations and alleges that whoever is behind the company violated federal law by using it as a “straw donor” to hide the identity of the true contributor.
Federal campaign finance regulations have long recognized that it is illegal for anyone to make a political contribution under a false name or in the name of someone else, including an incorporated entity.
Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, told OpenSecrets that straw donor schemes strike at the heart of disclosure laws meant to keep voters informed and protect elections from corruption and undue influence.
“Voters have a right to know who is spending money to influence them,” Ghosh said. “That whole scheme is backed up by federal reporting requirements for candidates and committees. But those reporting requirements aren’t effective if folks can give money in the name of somebody else or in the name of a completely opaque business entity.”
Ghosh said shell companies can also be used to conceal illicit contributions from government contractors and foreign nationals, who are not permitted under federal law to spend money on U.S. elections.
In February, the three-month-old company funneled [...] $200,000 [...] to More Jobs, Less Government, a super PAC backing Tim Sheehy’s U.S. Senate bid to unseat Sen. John Tester (D-Mont.) in Montana.
Washington Examiner: Republicans pull cash through shell company acting illegally, complaint says
May 10, 2024
Gabe Kaminsky
An apparent shell company may have unlawfully directed almost $2.6 million to half a dozen political action committees linked to Republicans, according to a left-wing watchdog group.
Ardleigh Impact, the company, made the super PAC donations from February to March of this year from an address in Virginia, Federal Election Commission filings show.
However, given the short time span between its October 2023 incorporation in Delaware and transfer of the cash in 2024, as well as the lack of publicly available information about Ardleigh Impact, Campaign Legal Center argued in an FEC complaint on Tuesday that the company likely hasn’t conducted enough business to have generated the funds.
Therefore, the watchdog group argued to the top regulator, Ardleigh Impact violated federal rules by utilizing a “straw donor” scheme that shields the source behind the initial cash.
It’s illegal for people to make political donations under false names or under the names of others, according to campaign finance regulations.
Ardleigh Impact lists a Virginia address in federal records belonging to Michael Goede, an account manager at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and Staci Goede, ex-chief financial officer for the Republican State Leadership Committee — a group working to elect GOP candidates across the United States.
The donations from the corporation were distributed to a [...] group supporting Republican Tim Sheehy’s Senate bid against Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).
“Straw donor contributions like those alleged here are serious violations of federal campaign finance law that have led to criminal indictments and convictions,” Campaign Legal Center argued in the complaint.
“As explained in one such indictment, the straw donor ban works in tandem with other campaign finance laws to protect the integrity of our electoral system and to ensure that all candidates, campaign committees, federal regulators, and the public are informed of the true sources of money spent to influence federal elections,” the complaint added.
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